Complications
by RT4ever
Summary: Everyone has a first love, not puppy love, but the first one you loved and in Ned's case the one that ran away from him. Now he's running after her.
1. One Photograph, an entire world falls ap...

Complications  
  
Chapter One---One Photograph, an entire world falls apart. Ned~  
  
I thought that my life couldn't get any more complicated. It seemed impossible. The chaos surrounded me everywhere starting from the family after Jason was arrested because of AJ and then Brenda was arrested because of Skye. Lois got on my back about the latter, for how dare a member the Q clan dare try to 'frame' her best friend, Brooke's godmother. It was pointless trying to fight her, remind her Brenda had been my friend long before she had been hers and that the whole family stood behind Brenda and always would.  
  
Then there was Alexis refusing me to be a father to Kristina, the child I gave up everything for and loved with me all my heart. The child, who I still worried wouldn't survive because of the man that had killed her namesake, the man I am still not sure Alexis didn't kill.  
  
But that, that was just the tip of the iceberg.  
  
AJ and I plotting to take down Sonny, talking Jax out of a million different ways he wanted to break Brenda out of jail, no that all seems to pale in comparison.  
  
And it's all because of a photograph, a photograph that could be lying to me. A game for my mother, but it seems so real, she seems so real.  
  
Paul Hornsby came to the gatehouse last night. He said that Dillon had been up earlier in the week and I recalled Grandmother and Grandfather mentioning that Paul had been by earlier in the week with Dillon and that I had meant to go say hello to the little brother who didn't know me, but had forgotten.  
  
He said that he had found a photograph in one of Dillon's drawers as he was putting away clothing. It was of Dillon and a woman, and that the woman had seemed very familiar to him, but he didn't want to ask Dillon for fear he would be angry that Paul had gone through his things.  
  
Finally one day when Dillon was out playing he went back to the room and took the picture and showed it Jenny. She knew at once who the picture was of, my wife before her, my wife whose memorial she crashed, my wife who according to the law and to god was never my wife. Even though we said those vows before our family and friends right before she ran off with Decker in my car.  
  
A woman who I had grieved for and had never forgiven myself for hurting.  
  
A woman who had 'died' over a decade ago.  
  
Yet here in my hand is a copy of the photograph. She's older, but smiling that same smile, with her eyes closed as she hugs Dillon.  
  
I can't go to Monica, not until I see her myself, find out why we all thought she was dead, why she did this to us. 


	2. Mommy Dearest

Ch.2-----Mommy Dearest  
  
Tracy's Penthouse:  
  
My mother's door is guarded by two men who have taken too many steroids. They try to prevent me from even knocking, giving me some BS about if I'm her son then why haven't they seen me before. Eventually they realize I'm not going away unless they drag me away. One of them goes in and I have the feeling that I'm being set up.  
  
My mother comes to the door "Ned, darling what a wonderful surprise, I was beginning to wonder if you forgot you had a mother."  
  
I know straight off that something is definitely off by her warm reaction to me, I back away as she comes to hug me "Where is she?"  
  
"Where is who? She tries to play dumb  
  
"Dawn mother, where is she?" I take out the picture and I see the various excuses running through her mind "Don't try make up some excuse about you creating this picture, digitally aging her, you can't capture this through technology, this is her alive and well."  
  
"Ned that's a babysitter of Dillon's her name's Lydia, I can have her come over if you want. Dawn's dead Ned, she died a long time ago."  
  
"Dawn isn't dead."  
  
"Oh this must be because of Kristina, is she doing okay? Did you get the basket I sent?"  
  
"Don't try to change the subject. I came here first, to talk to you. I can leave here and go straight to the media; they would have a field day with this."  
  
"Ned, you can do whatever you want, it isn't her?"  
  
I suddenly realize that we're still outside in the hallway, she never invited me in. In fact she closed the door right behind her. "She's inside right now," I say looking from the door to my mother and then back to the door.  
  
There's a brief struggle between me and the bodyguards as I dive for the door. They're about to drag me away when the door opens and there she was standing in the doorway. She had the face of an angel just as she'd had when I first met her, when all that innocence, that purity of her soul had been real, but the illusion continues on because of her pale golden locks and the cornflower blue of her eyes. It's an illusion though because the moment she opened that door, she acknowledged she knew what was going on. She wasn't taken from us, she left. 


	3. Look at me, see what you’ve done

Ch.3----Look at me, see what you've done  
  
"Let him go" comes out of her mouth as she shuts her eyes and moves to the side allowing me access into the apartment. The guards release me immediately; I straighten myself up as I walk inside followed by my mother. I'm angry at Dawn for standing off to the side acting aloof with her eyes shut. I want to watch her; I want to see her reaction to what just happened. Instead of standing there looking like an angel in a pair of old, faded light blue jeans and a simple white tee shirt. Her hair fell in waves until almost midway down her back, the only makeup she wore was lip gloss or maybe she had just licked her lips. Even her feet were bare. She didn't look like someone who could allow their mother to grieve, to allow her fiancée to be arrested for her murder.  
  
"Tracy leave" I say as I start to walk closer to Dawn  
  
"Dawn" my mother begins  
  
"I'll be fine" Dawn says softly  
  
Tracy disappears from the room pretty quickly, but I walk slowly towards Dawn. Her eyes briefly open and seem like they're going to look at me, but she closes them again. "Are you afraid to see what you've done?" I ask. I can hear and see the deep intake of breath that follows that statement. "Afraid to look in the eyes of a man who grieved for you along with your mother, your"  
  
Her eyes flash open, but she turns away "Oh I'm sure you comforted Monica alright."  
  
I grab her arm and turn her back to me; her eyes have closed again "Don't you dare even try to compare Monica and I not telling you we slept together before I ever knew you with you letting us believe you were dead. GOD DAMMIT OPEN YOUR EYES."  
  
With that her eyes open and for the briefest moment, my anger fades and I see my first real love, that sweet young girl who thought I hung the stars until I dashed away all of her dreams of happily ever after. That moment fades almost instantly when I realize although her eyes are open she isn't looking at me. Her eyes are focused in my direction, but she isn't seeing me. She must feel the shock through our physical connection or the stillness the air took on around us. "Why did you have to come Ned?"  
  
Her voice was so raw and tender when she spoke that I wanted to cry. "You can't see me?" I ask even though I knew the answer  
  
"No."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Get hit over the head with a pipe; see what it does to you."  
  
I take her into my arms. I don't know what else to do but that. 


End file.
